Consider this, too, then, as you weigh the additional evidence in the remaining chapters of this book.

Chapter 3 Jerusalem a Problem for the Whole World

It would be an understatement to remark that political and military control over the city of Jerusalem has changed hands many times over the years. (See the chapter in this book titled "Holy City.") In most cases, however, the city itself was not the main focus of the war or the diplomatic negotiations that resulted in the change of ownership, at least from the standpoint of the generals and the diplomats. Empires were on the move, and Jerusalem just happened to be in the way. It's location at the intersection of lines connecting the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa placed it in the path of many a large-scale conquest.

The exceptions were the numerous Jewish campaigns and revolts, aimed at wresting control away from occupying Gentile powers, and, of course, the Christian Crusades and Islamic Jihads, because these "holy" wars were, in fact, targeted specifically at control of Jerusalem.

The Crusades and opposing Jihads which raged from the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries involved the nations of Christendom and those of Islam, but it would be an exaggeration to say that Jerusalem had become a problem for the whole world during that period, or that all the nations of the world had united to impose a solution. Christendom then stretched across Europe, and the Muslim states covered North Africa and the Middle East. Few, if any, inhabitants of China, Japan or sub-Saharan Africa were following those developments, much less actually involved in them, and the Americas (which had not yet received that name) were totally out of the picture. Moreover, the Crusades and Jihads pitted groups of nations against each other for control of Jerusalem; they had not come together to impose an

international regime. The time Zechariah predicted when Jerusalem would be a 'stone burdening the whole world' and when 'all the nations would unite' in dealing with it was yet future. (Zech. 12:2-3)

Today, however, we do indeed see a situation in which the status of Jerusalem has become a problem for the whole world, and in which the nations, already united through the United Nations organization, are debating using that organization to impose a solution. The radical Islamic suicide bombings that were once confined to Israel, with the aim, in part, of restoring Arab control over Jerusalem, have now spread worldwide. American interests around the globe have become the target of such attacks, and a principal argument of justification offered by the attackers and the groups sponsoring them has been that America supports Israel. United States embassies have been blown up in Africa, a nightclub full of international tourists has been bombed in Bali, Indonesia, and, of course, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City have been destroyed, killing mostly Americans, but with citizens from dozens of countries included among the fatalities.

America responded to the destruction of September 11, 2001, with a "war against terrorism" that has involved nations around the globe. The United States military targeted Afghanistan, and drove from power the Taliban regime that had hosted and supported Osama Bin Laden and his Al Quaeda training camps. Terrorists were reported to have held secret meetings in places far from the Middle East to plan the September 11 attacks. The FBI began working with governments to arrest alleged conspirators in Spain, France, England, Italy, Germany, Indonesia, the Philippines and elsewhere. U.S. soldiers entered the Philippines as "advisors" to help hunt down Islamic militants. Jerusalem had become a problem for all of these nations.

Concurrent with all of this, letters laden with deadly anthrax spores killed or sickened American postal workers and shut down major government buildings for decontamination. Still unsolved as of this writing, that germ warfare attack was blamed by many on the same terrorist network responsible for the suicide bombings, the terrorists whose complaint